@article{astmh:/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.1999.60.1056,
author = "Allen, S J and O'Donnell, A and Alexander, N D and Mgone, C S and Peto, T E and Clegg, J B and Alpers, M P and Weatherall, D J",
title = "Prevention of cerebral malaria in children in Papua New Guinea by southeast Asian ovalocytosis band 3.",
journal= "The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene",
year = "1999",
volume = "60",
number = "6",
pages = "1056-1060",
doi = "https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.1999.60.1056",
url = "http://www.ajtmh.org/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.1999.60.1056",
publisher = "The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene",
issn = "0002-9637",
type = "Journal Article",
abstract = "Southeast Asian ovalocytosis (SAO) occurs at high frequency in malarious regions of the western Pacific and may afford a survival advantage against malaria. It is caused by a deletion of the erythrocyte membrane band 3 gene and the band 3 protein mediates the cytoadherence of parasitized erythrocytes in vitro. The SAO band 3 variant may prevent cerebral malaria but it exacerbates malaria anemia and may also increase acidosis, a major determinant of mortality in malaria. We undertook a case-control study of children admitted to hospital in a malarious region of Papua New Guinea. The SAO band 3, detected by the polymerase chain reaction, was present in 0 of 68 children with cerebral malaria compared with six (8.8%) of 68 matched community controls (odds ratio = 0, 95% confidence interval = 0-0.85). Median hemoglobin levels were 1.2 g/dl lower in malaria cases with SAO than in controls (P = 0.035) but acidosis was not affected. The remarkable protection that SAO band 3 affords against cerebral malaria may offer a valuable approach to a better understanding of the mechanisms of adherence of parasitized erythrocytes to vascular endothelium, and thus of the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria.",
}